Richard Schindler
UNDERSTANDING LANDSCAPE.
Industrial Architecture and Landscape Aesthetics in the Black Forest
(in german)

Can a landscape be understood? Is it possible to understand a forest? If so, how is this understanding be formulated?

Indeed, understanding a landscape is essential in evaluating the impact of construction projects on their surroundings, all the more so if the latest standards of landscape protection and preservation are to be respected.

This book shows how the image of a landscape can be understood and aesthetically evaluated in clear artistic and scientific terms.

The degree to which industrial architecture is allowed to affect the landscape has become a topic of public debate worldwide. Constructions such as hotel towers in the mountains, wind turbines in rural areas, and duty-free roads through recreational greenbelts force us to call the aesthetic price of industrial development into question. Is there an objective way to assess the "disfigurement" of a landscape? Are there rational criteria for the promotion of landscape protection or the evaluation of a landscape? What determines our perception of an "intact" landscape in the first place?

To answer these questions, this study critically examines current quantitative methods of evaluating the landscape and proposes a most promising alternative. The aesthetic quality of the industrial object in question was derived from its actual, concrete appearance in the landscape, yet the approach can be applied to construction projects on any sensitive site.
Cooperation between business and art has traditionally been limited to corporate sponsorship, the collecting of artworks, or the presence of art in office environments with varying degrees of success. By way of contrast, this study shows how the perceptual skills and experience of the artist can be applied in practical and productive ways in implementing business objectives as well.

translated by:
Jean-Marie Clarke
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denkmaler@t-online.de